Ontario launching AI program to help reduce doctor paperwork
The Ontario government is launching an artificial intelligence program they say will help reduce the paperwork burden on family doctors while also removing a requirement that employees provide a doctor's note when off sick.
The announcement was made by Health Minister Sylvia Jones in Toronto on Wednesday.
“Our government is launching an innovative program called AI scribe for more than 150 primary care providers that safely uses artificial intelligence to automatically summarize or transcribe conversations with patients who consent into electronic medical notes,” she told reporters.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Officials noted that patient information will continue to be protected under the Personal Health Information Protection Act. They cite research that suggests AI scribes reduced the time doctors spent on after-hours documentation by up to 50 per cent.
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) says that family doctors spend about 19 hours a week on administrative tasks. This includes about four hours writing notes or completing forms for patients.
With 2.3 million Ontarians without a family doctor, OMA President Andrew Park says that’s “clearly inappropriate and must be fixed.”
“Doctors are spending almost as much of their time in front of their computers as they are in front of patients,” Park said.
Park said that paperwork keeps physicians from seeing more patients as well as achieving a work-life balance. He welcomed the funding for AI scribes and said he looks forward to seeing the results of the pilot program.
Jones said there is a committee reviewing ways to further reduce the paperwork burden.
The province is also replacing the use of fax machines, further digitizing referral and consultation forms, and encouraging the use of digital tools to make it more convenient to share forms. Officials say they hope all of these efforts will save doctor's about 95,000 hours of administrative tasks per year.
Fewer sick notes
The government also announced it would prohibit a requirement for employers that mandates a doctor’s note be presented when a worker takes “job-protected sick leave.”
Ontario residents are entitled to at least three mandated sick days.
Jones added that employers who require reasonable evidence of an illness should accept attestations or declarations rather than a written note.
“Over time we would like to see sick notes eliminated entirely” Park said at the news conference. “This is practical as physicians can’t diagnose illness after the fact and it saves workers both time and money.”
The health minister did not say why sick notes weren’t banned.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.